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The Biomimicry Institute defines biomimicry as the science and art of emulating Nature's best biological ideas to solve human problems. For billions of years nature—animals, plants, and even microbes—has been solving many of the problems we are still dealing with today. Each has found what works, what is appropriate, and what lasts. Biomimicry and biomimetics come from the Greek words bios, meaning life, and mimesis, also meaning to imitate. Scientist and author Janine Benyus popularized the term biomimicry in her 1997 book Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature. Benyus believes that most of the problems that have ever existed have already been solved by nature. Benyus suggests shifting one's perspective from learning about nature to learning from nature as a way to solve human problems. Sustainability issues are among those that can be addressed by applying the biomimicry process to a project. Utilizing an integrated design process can help open up opportunities to identify biological solutions to building problems and include the perspective of nature in the design process—as it is likely that nature already offers a solution. Humans have always looked to nature for inspiration to solve problems. Leonardo da Vinci applied biomimicry to the study of birds in the hope of enabling human flight. He very closely observed the anatomy and flight of birds, and made numerous notes and sketches of his observations and countless sketches of proposed "flying machines". Although he was not successful with his own flying machine, his ideas lived on and were the source of inspiration for the Wright Brothers, who were also inspired by their observations of pigeons in flight. They finally did succeed in creating and flying the first airplane in 1903. Leonardo's design for a flying machine, c. 1488, inspired by birds in flight. Pigeons also influenced the Wright Brothers' design for the first airplane. Recent success stories exist in terms of how biomimicry can be applied to building design. While buildings serve to protect us from nature's extremes, this does not mean that they do not have anything to learn from the biological world. In fact, nature regularly builds structures with functionality that human-built structures could usefully emulate. Biomimetic research, science, and applications continue to grow and are already influencing the next generation of building products and systems as well as whole building designs. For example, photovoltaic systems, which harvest solar energy, are a first step at mimicking the way a leaf harvests energy. Research is underway to create solar cells that more closely resemble nature. These cells are water-gel-based—essentially artificial leaves—that couple plant chlorophyll with carbon materials, ultimately resulting in a more flexible and cost-effective solar cell. (For more information see this article in Scientific American)
A photovoltaic system collects energy from the sun, which was inspired by the way leaves harvest sunlight as part of photosynthesis. The bumpy surface of a lotus leaf (computer graphic close up view below-left) acts as a self-cleaning mechanism allowing dirt to be cleansed off the surface naturally by water, for instance, during a rain shower. Even the smallest of breezes on the plant causes a subtle shift in the angle of the plant allowing gravity to remove the dirt without the plant having to expend any energy. This same idea has been applied to the design of new building materials such as paints, tiles, textiles, and glass that reduce the need for detergents and labor and also reduces maintenance and material replacement costs.
Researchers have also developed non-toxic, formaldehyde-free wood glue that is now used in hardwood, plywood, and particleboard projects. The researchers discovered how to do this by understanding how blue mussels attach firmly under the water using flexible, thread-like tentacles.
The Thorny Devil, a desert lizard, gathers all the water it needs directly from rain, standing water, or from soil moisture, against gravity without using energy or a pumping device. Water is conveyed to the lizard's mouth by capillary action through a circulatory system on the surface of its skin. This same concept could be applied to passive collection and distribution systems of naturally distilled water which would reduce the energy consumed in collecting and transporting water by pump action (e.g., to the tops of buildings), and provide other inexpensive technological solutions such as managing heat through evaporative cooling systems, and protecting structures from fire through on-demand water barriers.
Damage to an organism naturally elicits a healing response. Bone is also known to detect damage to itself and can heal within range of its initial strength. This same concept has been applied to synthetic material design and contributed to the development of a self-healing polymer for use as building materials. Tiny capsules containing a healing agent are embedded in the polymer. When the material is damaged, the capsules rupture and release the healing agent, which repairs the cracks. The self-repairing capabilities of materials can contribute to reduced maintenance and material replacements costs as well as increased durability. Self-repairing materials can also be made lighter, resulting in reduced embodied energy and greenhouse gas production.
ApplicationThe Biomimicry Institute, a not-for-profit organization that promotes learning from and then emulating natural forms, processes, and ecosystems to create more sustainable and healthier human technologies and designs, suggests that the design team look at nature as "model, measure, and mentor." There are hundreds of technologies inspired by proven design systems existing in nature. One can become more familiar with these examples by broadening and deepening an inner awareness of nature. Ask Nature, developed by the Biomimicry Institute, is a free, open source, online project designed to inspire innovation and technologies that create conditions conducive to life. To accomplish this, Ask Nature is organizing the world's biological literature by function along with providing access to biological blueprints and strategies, bio-inspired products and design sketches, and access to experts to talk with and collaborate with to solve problems. To utilize the tool and apply this broader method of thinking into a building project, begin by asking:
The Biomimicry Guild, in collaboration with other organizations, developed a practical design tool called the Biomimicry Design Spiral that uses nature as a model. This tool outlines guidance using the following steps to apply the tool effectively and systematically to the creative process. Below are listed the basic steps in that process.
(For more detailed information on this process, see The power of the Biomimicry Design Spiral.) As noted by Biomimicry 3.8, since nature works with small feedback loops constantly learning, adapting, and evolving their environments and processes, building design professionals can also benefit from this way of thinking. This would enable designs to evolve in repeated steps of observation and development, uncovering and/or seeing new lessons, and applying these constantly throughout the exploration of a design. By applying this process, it is possible to create buildings, products, and/or processes that are inherently more sustainable, perform better, use less energy, eliminate or create less waste, reduce material costs, and open up opportunities to create new products and potentially new markets by spawning innovation. ExamplesEsplanade TheaterThe Esplanade Theater and commercial district in Singapore, designed by DP Architects and Michael Wilford, hosts an elaborate building skin which influenced the look and function of the interiors, inspired by the multi-layered Durian plant with its formidable thorn-covered husk. The Durian plant uses its semi rigid pressurized skin to protect the seeds inside, just as the building exterior is part of an elaborate shading system that adjusts throughout the day to allow sunlight in but protects the interiors from overheating.
Eastgate CentreTermites have an amazing ability to maintain virtually constant temperature and humidity in their termite mounds in Africa despite outside temperatures that may vary from 35°F to 104°F (3°C to 42°C). Researchers initially scanned a termite mound and created 3-D images of the mound structure, which revealed construction that can influence human building design. The Eastgate Centre, a mid-rise office complex in Harare, Zimbabwe, uses a form of passive cooling similar to how the termite mound works and stays cool without air conditioning and uses only 10% of the energy of a conventional building its size.
A termite mound (left) which inspired the design of the Eastgate Centre in Zimbabwe (right). Dives in Misericordia ChurchIn the early 1990s, scientists at the Italcementi Group in Bergamo, Italy, produced a self-cleaning concrete that keeps buildings from tarnishing from pollutants in the atmosphere. Photocatalytic particles in the cement oxidize the pollutants coming into contact with the hardened concrete surface, that help to maintain the original surface appearance, a very white concrete, over time. The idea was inspired in part by self-cleaning plants and contributes to the reduction of maintenance and repair costs to the building. Emerging IssuesResearch and analysis continues to grow in this field with more species documented from which to draw inspiration. Below are a few of the recent studies that are continuing to influence design, engineering, science, and technology. Spiders can create web silk as strong as the Kevlar used in bulletproof vests. Engineers could potentially use such a material—if it had a long enough rate of decay—for suspension bridge cables, artificial ligaments for medicine, and many other purposes. (See The Biomimicry Institute for more information and the latest research at biomimicry.org)
Tensile structure bridge in Brazil
World's largest solar powered tensegrity pedestrian and cycle bridge in Brisbane, Queensland Other research has proposed adhesive glue from mussels, solar cells made like leaves, fabric that emulates shark skin, harvesting water from fog like a beetle, and more. Recently, researchers from ETH Zurich, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, have been incorporating biomimetic characteristics to structural engineering problems in an adaptive deployable tensegrity bridge (tensional integrity based on a synergy between balanced tension and compression components). The bridge can carry out self-diagnosis and self-repair utilizing a machine learning algorithm. Relevant Codes and StandardsWhile many codes, standards, and regulations serve as a starting point for establishing sustainability goals and targets, it is possible that by first seeking the sources of inspiration and examples from nature, the design community may improve upon these standards and create models that go beyond any of those outlined below. Additional ResourcesOrganizationsPublicationsArchitecture
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